Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Wool Author Makes Print-Only Deal with Simon & Schuster

Publishers Lunch

Author of self-published NYT and USA Today
ebook bestseller WOOL Hugh Howey has made a print-only deal with Simon &
Schuster, which will release his title in both hardcover and paperback editions
simultaneously in March 2013 while Howey continues to control the ebook
version. He had already made a traditional publishing deal in the UK (with
Century) and agent Kristin Nelson and her sub-agents have already licensed the
book in over 18 territories.

Spokesperson for the Simon & Schuster
Publishing Group Julia Prosser told us, "Not one size publishing fits all,
and Simon & Schuster wants to publish the most talented writers out there.
We're thrilled to be able to bring WOOL to a larger audience."

In 2011
Simon & Schuster agreed to distribute print books for another successful
self-published ebook author, John Locke, and that unit also provided full-line
distribution (this time including ebooks) to Tucker Max's Blue Heeler Books for
his latest book, HILARITY ENSUES.

Print-only deals remain rare, though not
singular (and they may become more common as the 21st-century version of the
old paperback license). Mira licensed print-only rights from another
self-published author, Bella Andre, in September. And Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt's New Harvest imprint issues Amazon Publishing books in print only,
and when they first licensed two Oliver Pötzsch books from Amazon Crossing it
was for print only. Other one-offs include Jon Krakauer's Three Cups of Deceit
(mentioned in today's Byliner story) and the NYT's WikiLeaks book OPEN SECRETS,
which Grove/Atlantic published as a trade paperback.